Baby #4 has been sloshing around my belly for well over a month now. The first time I felt him/her I was kind of surprised. I was only around 16 weeks along and one morning while laying in bed with my knee pulled up into my stomach, I felt it. A sudden, BIG movement as if baby was being squished and not happy about it.
And that’s about how it’s gone ever since. Baby #4 does NOT like being squished and wiggles around anytime I’m sitting with my stomach crunched, my pants are too tight or I’m in the car too long. s/he was also a very wiggly little monster during his/her ultrasound and while I was hoping for a calm baby after my high-strung Sugarplum and Doodle, I’m still holding onto hope that s/he just wants to stretch out and will be content once in our world where s/he isn’t squished anymore!
I have fond memories of all my babies’ movement in the belly. Sugarplum was my mover, she seemed to never stop and made such big, extreme position changes that you could often see it from the outside. I called her my alien baby and was convinced she was our boy. She definitely surprised us when she was born but not much has changed, she is still our mover and constantly on the go!
I first felt her at around 15 weeks shortly after we arrived in Dublin and a few days realized I was severely dehydrated and once my hydration was taken care of, I didn’t feel her again until closer to the 18-20 week mark when most mommies feel their babies moving for the first time.
Truthfully, I don’t remember the first time I felt Doodle. But I do remember how calm he was at night. Whereas my girls were always very rambunctious whenever I laid down to rest, Doodle always seemed to sleep when I wanted to. And he turned out to be a very good sleeper from birth (for a few months at least!)
But the movement I remember the most was with Honeybun. Being my first baby, I didn’t know at all what to expect. I had read and hear about butterfly wings and flutters. And then one day, around 18 weeks, while I sat at the light waiting to turn into our neighborhood after work, I felt her. It wasn’t flutters or gentle tickles like I imagined, it was like sloshing. It felt like I had a water bottle in my stomach that was being turned side to side, literally like water moving in my stomach.
Those first fetal movements are something I will never forget and the feeling that went along with it was just amazing. I’d heard and seen her heartbeat via ultrasound and doppler at my prenatal appointments but FEELING her changed everything. Suddenly, there was a constant reminder of the amazing job I was doing, of the child growing within me and I think that is what my motherly instincts really kicked in. She was real, ever-present and ours to keep and love forever!
